Sunday, March 1, 2009

Whistle!!

Aham and other S.I.T.A sainiks. I thought of a simple yet effective way of attracting attention when faced with a potential assault. How about a really loud whistle - the kind one hears during football matches? For one, it would startle the goons with its ear splitting intensity, for another, it might attract others. It is a safe and legal way to register a protest. The whistle is also a great symbol, since most times women are at the receiving end of cat calls and seetis. I also thought of a dog whistle, which would get all the canines in the neighbourhood barking. It is easier to 'blow the whistle' on goondas than start looking for mace sprays, pepper or chilly powder tucked inside ones handbag. Ladies planning a night on the town could wear their whistles around the neck or wrist and make it a fashion statement too. By the time one phones a dedicated helpline it is already too late. Though a helpline is a must. Community Sainiks are needed to implement any plans. But the whistle could be a start. What do you think??

very good idea ....and let the word spread like fire .... whenever anyone hear the whistle , just get their and beat the goons ...what a group of 10 will do if 100 girls will beat them ..( if beating is not possible , shout and threaten them) ..a couple of such incidents and these goons will get the taste of their own medicine..

Not a bad idea but i feel that a woman's loud and shriek wails will work better than the whistle or any other such signal which the passerby may not understand and dismiss it as the one being blown by a night guard.

I was thinking more on the lines of something like a gun,. You haven't been to Gwalior, have you? You can see villagers moving around with a "do-nalli" (a double barrel gun). Going by the newspaper reports on what is happening to our woman on the street this seems to be the only option. Now, I only need to persuade my wife to carry one. I am ruling out any civilized options for the near future.

Whistle or no whistle. The girls/women must get a crowd to react in the first place. We have read in the papers that people do not want to get involved.Doors have been closed on a girl who came to one of the buildings to ask for help. They did not want to even call the police on the phone, as they would be targetted by the goons.We have to get civilized people to understand that it could happen to their woman folk, then what would they feel, when there was no one to look for help.A few years back, one of our family friends told us about her experience at a south Bombay bus stop. While she was boarding a double decker bus, a sick guy put his hand in between her legs from behind. She was stunned and could do nothing, as even the girls/women at the stop were having a good laugh at her expense.She got down from the bus, and took a cab to office. From that day onwards she choose to board the bus from another location.The best defence for a girl/woman is to learn some art in defence, which could save her from these hassels. Still better get the authorities to ACT before it is too late.

As a father of two young daughters and staying far away from mainland Mumbai, I suggest all girls in the schools must be taught some kind of self defence techniques. When in trouble no passerby may help, whistle or chilli powder.

Thank you for your initiation and follow-up suggestions. These are all great ideas and I wish *Aham* and everyone who would be at the Gateway of India on that day, loads of good-luck.

On a related note, I am deeply saddened reading stories of atrocities against women and other "perceived" vulnerable members of our society.

Its a paradox and borrowing your phrase, I ask "Is this how the aspirational India lives its everyday life?" Either we are completely blase or we continue to live in constant fear or we prefer to avoid rightful confrontations.

Civil-rights, womens-rights, gay-rights are all pressing issues and I wish to see each of these related concerns be documented for continued conversations. We are far from living in an equal society.

Yes, your humble cell phone can protect you and BTW a service like this is a part of the Indian Law for granting licenses but Indian cellular companies will not cooperate to provide this service since there is not much moolah in it.

Another suggestion : Although you have enabled open ID, do enable it for people like me who run their own blog installations ...that is I dont like to use sites like blogger.com of LJ, etc but I am forced to create and use the account just to leave a comment on your blog. That is another loop to jump :(

Btw, akismet provides good spam protection and I dont regulate comments on my blog because Akismet does its job so well.

Hi De... This is probably my first comment on your blogs... though I have written a long comment for a yr old post of yours... on your older blog... that blog is regarding 60th anniversary of indian independence...

Anyways... I liked the idea of SITA sena you gave to Hareesh... This what needed today's India! Otherwise few freaks will ruin our culture on the name of culture only... I have always loved your thought & personality whenever I saw you on TV or read on newspaper... though I haven't read any of your books. Seeti is really a good idea to attract people's attention... but this all is quite philosophical may be understood by people who actually understand it! I think our message should reach at least till middle class level where a woman has always been treated as a need rather than a human! I was also thinking whether a common person who is more under effect of our so called 'culturists' , they will understand why are we doing this scene?! Of course whatever we going to do is gr8 thing & I am gonna support it still I feel there should be something more which would make all level understand easily our message!

Still SITA sena hip hip hurray ... & now Sita has to deny to give any agni pariksha ...

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